07/09/2008
Contrary to popular belief, the vibrant world of casino games didn't suddenly appear with the establishment of dedicated gaming halls. Its origins stretch far back into history, reaching as far as ancient Rome. Recognised globally as a conquering nation, many are unaware that this industrious people also played a significant role in popularising certain games, particularly those involving dice. These games took various forms, some of which bear a striking resemblance to those enjoyed today.
Ancient Romans, much like the Greeks, were immensely fond of games of chance and skill. Their daily lives were punctuated by a rich tapestry of entertainment, ranging from simple domestic amusements to grand public spectacles that captivated thousands. Understanding these pastimes offers a unique window into Roman society, revealing their values, social structures, and their enduring human desire for play and diversion.
The Ancestors of Dice Games: Knucklebones
One of the earliest and most influential games in Roman society was Knucklebones, known at the time as 'games of nerves'. This ancient pastime, played with the ankle bones of sheep or goats, laid the foundational principles for many modern dice games. Two primary variants of Knucklebones were particularly instrumental in shaping future gaming:
- The first version involved tossing the bones into the air and attempting to catch as many as possible whilst they were in flight. This tested agility and quick reflexes.
- The second, more sophisticated version, assigned numerical values to the different sides of the bones. These values typically ranged from 1, often referred to as the 'Dog', to 6, known as 'Venus'. The combinations formed by these throws, along with the system of numerical assignment, directly inspired the rules and scoring of contemporary dice games.
This evolution from a simple game of dexterity to one incorporating chance and numerical outcomes highlights the innovative spirit of Roman leisure.
Dice Games: A Unifying Pastime for All
Whilst today, casino games are readily accessible via digital technology and the internet, there was a time when their practice was considered an offence in the eyes of society. In ancient Rome, anyone caught gambling was liable to pay a fine. However, the immense popularity of these games eventually led leaders to reconsider their stance. Consequently, gambling was officially permitted during the annual festival of Saturnalia.
During Saturnalia, a period of widespread revelry and social inversion, nobles and slaves alike could play together without restriction, irrespective of their social class. Dice games were by far the most popular, played both with and without boards. Gaming boards were often adorned with rudimentary Roman symbols, typically divided into 36 squares, featuring geometric shapes and letters. Interestingly, whilst modern dice games commonly use a pair of dice, the Romans frequently used three. The combination of 'three-six' was considered the most potent throw, capable of yielding significant wins.
Beyond Standard Dice: Variants and Venues
Despite the official prohibition on gambling outside of designated festivals, this did not deter players from gathering away from the watchful eyes of authority. Brothels and taverns provided perfect clandestine locations for illicit gaming. It was within these hidden establishments that the idea of creating dedicated gaming houses began to emerge.
Beyond the standard dice games, other forms of entertainment also flourished:
- The Twelve Lines Game (Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum): This game, sometimes called the 'Game of Twelve Monkeys', was among the first to popularise the use of cubical dice. Players typically needed 15 pieces, much like counters. Many modern games draw inspiration from its concept, with the most famous being Backgammon.
- The Game of the Brigands (Ludus Latrunculorum): This was a strategy game, often likened to chess or draughts, where the objective was to capture the opponent's pieces and ultimately claim the title of 'king'. Whilst there's no definitive proof, the allure of this title may have contributed to its immense popularity among Romans.
Roman Entertainment for All Ages
The Romans, from all walks of life and every age, were passionate about games and leisure. This passion permeated their society, providing distraction, social interaction, and a means of expression.
Children's Diversions
Even the youngest Romans had their entertainments:
- Infants: Rattles and small, noisy toys.
- Young Children: Small wooden or terracotta chariots, hoops with bells, spinning tops. They were also taken for rides in real chariots pulled by ponies, sometimes even participating in mock races.
- School-aged Girls: Possessed dolls, often articulated, which they could dress up.
- School-aged Boys: Engaged in games with nuts, played knucklebones and dice. Much like today, they played marbles, blind man's bluff, and various ball games. Swimming and skimming stones by the water's edge were also popular.
As children approached adolescence, their games began to mirror adult pastimes, such as hunting and horse riding. Athletic exercises like running, jumping, and discus throwing were encouraged to build strong, healthy bodies, preparing boys to become future soldiers.
Adult Pastimes: Chance, Skill, and Wagers
Adult Romans indulged in a wide array of games, often accompanied by significant wagers. The passion for gambling was so pervasive that political authorities, both under the Republic and the Empire, frequently banned betting under penalty of severe fines. Nevertheless, clandestine betting thrived in public places, inns, and taverns, where back rooms often served as illicit gambling dens.
Adult games can be broadly categorised:
| Category | Examples of Games | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Games of Pure Chance | Dice, Knucklebones, Heads or Tails (capita aut navia), Odd or Even (par impar) | Relied entirely on luck; popular for their simplicity and immediate results. |
| Games of Chance & Skill | Morra (micare digitis), Roman Backgammon (tabula or ludus duodecim scriptorum) | Required both luck and strategic thinking to influence the outcome. Morra involved guessing the number of fingers displayed by an opponent, whilst Roman Backgammon was a board game with dice. |
| Games of Pure Skill | Games akin to Chess or Checkers (e.g., Ludus Latrunculorum) | Success depended solely on the player's intellect, strategy, and foresight. |
This passion for games extended beyond individual play, manifesting in grand spectacles that drew massive crowds.
The Thermae: More Than Just Baths
The Roman baths, or Thermae, especially under the Empire, evolved into much more than just places for hygiene; they became epicentres of leisure. Men and women prepared for their baths with various physical exercises, some quite intense:
- Ball Games: Including trigon (a three-player ball game), handball, and harpastum, a vigorous game where players had to seize a ball amidst competitors, involving pushes, speed assaults, and feints, often in a cloud of dust.
- Weights and Halteres: For strength training.
- Hoop Rolling: Running behind a hoop was particularly popular among women.
Whilst these activities were widely enjoyed, some intellectuals, philosophers, and moralists, throughout the Republic and Empire, expressed disdain or hostility towards the games and physical activities that so pleased the masses, often condemning them with great vehemence.
Festivals and Public Spectacles: The Heart of Roman Life
By the end of the Republic, festivals and games were incredibly numerous, occupying over 75 days each year. Instituted at various times, the oldest, the Ludi Consuales, honoured the agrarian god Consus and dated back to Romulus.
Held between April and December, typically to honour deities such as Cybele, Ceres, Apollo, and Jupiter, these events were organised by city magistrates and featured spectacular manifestations: solemn processions, theatre, Circus games, and wild animal fights. Tarquin the Elder even built the Circus Maximus to provide a worthy setting for these grand events. Roman games often lasted for several days, occupying the entire day.
Saturnalia: A Time of Unbound Merriment
Among the most famous festivals was Saturnalia, which gained immense prominence under the Empire. Celebrated in honour of Saturn, the god of the Golden Age, it initially lasted two days (17th to 19th December) but eventually extended to five days, with some authors claiming it stretched for an entire month. This festival was unique for its reversal of social norms, allowing slaves and masters to dine and gamble together, fostering a spirit of equality and unrestrained revelry.
Public Readings (Recitationes)
Public readings, or Recitationes, became a staple of literary and social life during the era of Emperor Augustus (30 BCE - 14 CE). Authors would read their new or recent works aloud, providing the most convenient way to publicise them. Poems, plays, judicial or political speeches, and historical works were read, typically at home before an audience of guests who were expected to offer advice and, more importantly, praise. These events were a ceremonial affair, though audiences were not always attentive or well-behaved. Some readings even took place in public venues like the Thermae or the Forum.
These readings served a dual social function: they allowed authors to bypass the control of booksellers and enabled the political power to monitor literary production, nipping any seditious tendencies in the bud. In a Rome where grand political and judicial eloquence could no longer be openly expressed, freedom of speech often found refuge in these private readings among trusted friends.
The Circus: Chariot Racing Mania
The word 'circus' refers to the constructed space where the so-called 'circus games' took place. Rome boasted several circuses, with the Circus Maximus being the oldest and most imposing. Located in a valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, it measured approximately 600 metres long and 200 metres wide in the 2nd century CE, capable of holding between 250,000 and 300,000 spectators.
The Circus Maximus primarily hosted chariot races, though wrestling matches and equestrian acrobatics with a martial flavour also occurred. A typical day of spectacles lasted from dawn till dusk, preceded by a grand procession from the Campus Martius through the city, and a sacrifice of oxen. Under the Republic, two main factions, the Greens (popular party) and the Blues (conservative party), competed, intensifying the passions of spectators who often bet according to their political leanings.
Teams would complete seven laps of the track. The charioteers' skill lay in avoiding accidents (collisions, hitting the turning posts too tightly) and maintaining position through wide turns. Whilst numerous staff supported the stables, glory was reserved for the horses and charioteers. These drivers, often of humble or even servile birth, could amass fortunes and immense fame, though their careers were frequently cut short by fatal accidents. These races were the subject of massive wagers, enriching or ruining punters. They captivated the public, diverting them from daily worries and potential seditious thoughts, thereby contributing to public tranquillity, a key objective for emperors.
The Theatre: From Farce to Tragedy
The institution of scenic games in Rome traditionally dates back to 364 BCE, with Etruscan origins. Early popular festivals had already developed performances akin to farces: crude, even obscene, Fescennine verses, Atellan farces (where actors improvised on a theme, much like Commedia dell'arte), and satires (mixtures of spoken parts, mimes, and dances), all reflecting the participants' exuberance and joy of life.
Under Greek influence, this local tradition gradually gave way to more familiar theatrical forms: tragedies and comedies.
Tragedy
Roman tragedians imitated their Greek counterparts. Two types of plays emerged: those borrowing subjects from Greek legends and history, and those dealing with Roman themes. Several authors enriched the genre, though it underwent a near-total eclipse until the 1st century CE when the philosopher Seneca wrote tragedies inspired by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (e.g., Agamemnon, Phoenissae, Troades, Medea, Phaedra), some of which are still performed today.
Comedy
Roman comedy was primarily dominated by two giants: Plautus (c. 254-184 BCE) and Terence (c. 190/185-159 BCE). Twenty plays by Plautus survive, whilst only six by Terence, who died young, remain. Terence sometimes combined elements from two Greek plays to compose a single comedy (a technique known as 'contamination'). Both authors struggled with an uncultured, boisterous public and often with jealous competitors. Plautus's comedies are known for their boisterous humour and intricate plots, whilst Terence's are more refined, with subtler characterisation and a more elegant style.
These comedies of intrigue, character, and manners offered human truth. Plautus's comic force was undeniably greater, eliciting hearty laughter, whilst Terence, more restrained, provoked only smiles. These plays, written in varied verse, included both spoken and sung parts, with the latter being more prominent in Plautus. The rapid evolution from Plautus to Terence disoriented the popular audience but captivated aristocratic circles with more refined tastes. Readers of Molière's The Miser and Amphitryon will readily recognise their debt to Plautus's Aulularia (The Pot of Gold) and Amphitryon.
Theatrical Venues and Performances
For a long time, theatrical performances were held in temporary wooden structures. It was Pompey, a leading general and politician at the end of the Republic, who built the first permanent stone theatre in 55 BCE, with a capacity of approximately 27,000 seats. Two other theatres, built at the end of the 1st century BCE, had capacities of 7,700 and 14,000 seats respectively. These figures, whilst impressive, still pale in comparison to the Circus Maximus.
The organisation of performances was entrusted by the responsible magistrate to a troupe leader, who purchased the play. Actors, exclusively men for a long time, were often of servile origin or freedmen, as Roman citizens were generally forbidden from performing on stage and would lose their rights if they defied this prohibition (except for satire and Atellan farces). Like the Greeks, actors wore cothurni (thick-soled boots to increase height) and masks from the 2nd century BCE onwards. These masks had expressions suited to the character's situation and also served to amplify the voice.
Performances, typically held in the early afternoon before the main meal, exposed actors to the whims of a sometimes violent audience. As a precaution, troupe leaders often hired a vigorous claque (a group of professional applauders). Brawls were common. The spectacles were free, and everyone (men, women, children, slaves) had access.
The Amphitheatre: Gladiators and Spectacle
The amphitheatre deserves special mention, as its function was unique to Roman civilisation and often evokes horror and condemnation today. Whilst the first gladiatorial contests, which replaced human sacrifices of prisoners of war, represented a societal advancement, they took on a different dimension from the 1st century BCE. To dazzle their fellow citizens and win votes, politicians staged increasingly grandiose, but also increasingly deadly and cruel, spectacles. This trend continued for several centuries under the Empire, with amphitheatrical games becoming an instrument of government.
Emperors like Tiberius (14-37 CE) often abstained due to avarice, whilst allowing others to host lavish games. Claudius (41-54 CE), however, famously found an opportunity to satisfy his cruelty through these bloody displays. The Colosseum, the most iconic amphitheatre, symbolises the Roman fascination with these brutal yet captivating forms of entertainment, which served as both public entertainment and a stark display of imperial power.
Frequently Asked Questions About Roman Games
Q: What was the most popular game for Romans?
A: It's difficult to pinpoint a single 'most popular' game as different forms of entertainment appealed to different segments of society and served different purposes. Dice games were immensely popular and widely accessible, especially during festivals like Saturnalia. However, public spectacles such as chariot races in the Circus Maximus and gladiatorial contests in the amphitheatre drew hundreds of thousands of spectators and were central to Roman public life, arguably holding the greatest mass appeal.
Q: Was gambling legal in ancient Rome?
A: Generally, gambling was illegal in ancient Rome outside of specific festivals. Authorities, both under the Republic and the Empire, imposed heavy fines on those caught gambling. However, the passion for it was so strong that clandestine gambling thrived in taverns and brothels. During the Saturnalia festival, gambling was officially permitted, allowing people of all social classes to participate freely.
Q: Did women participate in Roman games?
A: Yes, women participated in various forms of Roman games and leisure activities. They attended public spectacles like chariot races and theatrical performances (though their seating might have been separate). In the Thermae, women engaged in physical exercises like ball games and hoop rolling. Whilst they did not typically participate in gladiatorial contests, there is some evidence of female gladiators in certain periods. Women also played dice and other games of chance, especially during festivals.
Q: How did Roman games influence modern entertainment?
A: Roman games had a profound influence. Knucklebones directly led to modern dice games. The Twelve Lines Game is considered a direct ancestor of Backgammon. The Roman emphasis on public spectacles, large arenas, and the concept of mass entertainment laid foundations for modern sports events, concerts, and stadium culture. Even the dramatic structures of Roman comedy and tragedy influenced later European theatre, as seen in the works of playwrights like Molière.
From the humble roll of the dice to the thunderous roar of the Circus Maximus, Roman leisure was a diverse and integral part of their civilisation. These games, whether played in private homes or grand public venues, offered Romans moments of escape, social connection, and profound excitement, leaving an indelible mark on the history of entertainment.
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